Tennessee State is in the middle of its best season — at least record-wise — in nearly a decade.
The Tigers (7-3, 4-2) bounced back with a 42-20 win over Western Illinois after UT Martin snapped their season-high four-game winning streak a week earlier.
Tennessee State remains poised to post its best record in more than a decade and possibly earn an at-large berth in the FCS playoffs, with Gardner-Webb (3-6, 2-3) and Southeast Missouri (8-0, 5-1) left to play. Win in those games could have the Tigers postseason-bound for the first time since 2013.
As it stands right now, Tennessee State is on FCS playoff bubble.
The 2024 FCS playoff bracket has 24 teams, featuring 10 auto-bids from 10 conferences and 14 at-large bids. Sixteen teams will be seeded, with the Top 8 receiving first-round byes and seeds 9-16 hosting first-round games.
In his latest FCS postseason predictions, Hero Sports reporter Sam Herder had Tennessee State as one of eight bubble teams, including MEAC power North Carolina Central, just outside the field.
According to Herder, the Tigers will be fighting for one of the last few spots with Chattanooga, ETSU, Abilene Christian, and Eastern Kentucky—schools that are projected to earn the last at-large bids.